Julius Erving says Sixers better off without Andrew Bynum

PHILADELPHIA -- Aside from a pair of warm-up pants and an unopened sneaker box, Andrew Bynum's locker stall was empty. It looked as though no one had been there for quite some time, too.

Just like the 76ers' box scores all season, their locker room Sunday afternoon was distinctly Bynum-free. That August trade to bring Bynum to town didn't exactly yield the kind of numbers for which the Sixers had pined.

"I know what the net result is. The net result is Robert Parish's old number: double-zero," said Julius Erving, who serves as a strategic adviser for the Sixers.

Erving knows a thing or two about championship-caliber basketball. The Sixers didn't play it this season. Bynum didn't play at all this season.

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And that's exactly Dr. J's point.

Erving, who rolled into the Wells Fargo Center with a few teammates from that 1982-83 title team, was rather candid in his assessment of what the Sixers gained from their trade for Bynum. The 7-footer did not play a single game for the Sixers before undergoing surgery on both knees last month.

"We have not benefited one degree. I guess he has," Erving said of Bynum, an unrestricted free agent who made $16.5 million this season.

Speaking prior to tipoff of the Sixers' home finale, Erving made it sound as though any bid by the Sixers to re-sign Bynum in the offseason would be a lost cause. That being said, he also said the process of finding someone to play Bynum's position could be equally as costly.

So, where to from here? If you were to ask Erving, anywhere (or with anyone) but Bynum.

"I think if he's not here, you're going to free up a lot of money. Washington and Lincoln can't play the corners for you, but they can get somebody that can play the corners for you," Erving said.

"We need somebody to play a corner for us and play the middle for us. It's going to be costly. If the Bynum situation is one of total uncertainty for another year, I don't think the organization should stand for that or the fans should stand for that."

At the risk of it being overstated, the Sixers could have used Bynum this season.

They gave up what amounted to four first-round draft picks to get him. They bided their time as Bynum incurred setback after setback, seemingly embracing him each time. Then, after Bynum engaged in his first and only practice with the Sixers, they had to bite the bullet when the All-Star center in March decided to end his comeback bid and go under the knife.

"I'm just going to say it like this, to cut all of these other questions out: If we had Andrew, it'd be a completely different story," Thaddeus Young said. "The team was built for him. We had shooters, we had ball-handlers, we had guys to do the grunt work, guys to rebound the basketball.

"If you have Andrew in the mix, that's easily, what, 20 (points) and 10 (rebounds)? Triple-teams, double-teams all day."

With visions of Bynum collecting double-doubles nightly, the Sixers expected to be in the playoff race. They didn't plan on facing mathematical elimination with six regular-season games remaining, or dealing with their coach reportedly on the outs with ownership.

That's where the Sixers are, after having cast off a downtrodden Cleveland club, 91-77, Sunday.

"With the moves made in the offseason," Sixers coach Doug Collins said, "I give Josh (Harris, the Sixers' owner) and the organization a lot of credit: They swung for the fences and, unfortunately, with Andrew getting hurt, and Jason Richardson, it changed the dynamic of our season."

Swinging for the fences came at a price.

In order to free up the kind of cap space required to trade for Bynum, the Sixers sent Andre Iguodala to Denver, and promising second-year man Nik Vucevic, high-ceiling rookie Moe Harkless and a protected first-round pick to Orlando. That's a big hit to endure for Bynum.

In a halftime celebration of that 1983 championship team, Harris grabbed the mic and told fans the owners "are going to work very hard to make next year better."

That process might begin with re-signing Bynum. If Erving had his druthers, it wouldn't.